Heart to Heart
by iloveromance
Summary: When his parents return from an evening out, David can't help thinking about the conversation that he'd had with Alice while she stayed over to babysit him. The conversation leads to another one with his father. One that ends up bringing them closer together in a way that David never expected. A continuation of Kristen3's "An Unexpected Friendship" written as a birthday gift!


David was almost asleep when he heard his parents' voices outside his bedroom door. And then the door opened slowly he heard his mom gasp. "Niles, he's asleep. We'll just talk to him in the morning."

Instantly David sat up in bed and turned on the light. "I'm awake, Mom."

His parents entered his bedroom and stood at his bedside.

"We're sorry we woke you, Sweetheart."

David smiled at his mom. Rarely did she ever call him by his first name, except when she was mad, and then it was always _"David Martin Crane!"_ But most of the time she called him _Honey_ or _Sweetheart,_ the way she did when she talked to his dad. The fact that his parents were always so affectionate with one another should have made him sick to his stomach, but he found it rather comforting. After all, the divorce rate in Seattle alone was rising steadily, a fact that had stunned his parents when he'd announced it at breakfast one morning. But he didn't mind their affection too much.

He knew how much they had been through to be together, he'd heard the story countless times, in different versions from his mom, his dad, his Uncle Frasier, his grandpa and even his Aunt Roz. She wasn't really his aunt, because his parents had no sisters, but she'd been friends with his mom and dad for years and so she was part of the family, just like Alice.

But ever since Alice had come over to babysit earlier that night, he'd been thinking about his dad… a lot. He loved his dad and he couldn't imagine life without him. Alice didn't have a dad, and he wasn't sure why, but he'd learned not to bring up the subject. She was his friend and he didn't want to upset her or make her mad. But the few times she talked about her dad, he was always willing to listen. It seemed that listening ran in the Crane family.

Now he looked at his parents who were smiling at him, and he suddenly saw them in a new light.

"David, are you okay?" his mom asked.

He shrugged. "Yeah, I'm fine. I was just thinking."

This made his mom smile even more. "About what?"

"Dad, actually."

She looked at him in surprise and turned to his dad. "Well, that makes two of us because I think about him all the time."

"Thank you, my love." His dad replied. "I haven't stopped thinking about you since the day I first laid eyes on you." He leaned to kiss her and he must have forgotten that David was in the room because his mother had to gently push him away.

"Niles…"

He drew back, looking at David as though embarrassed. "Oh… I'm sorry, I was just…"

"It's okay. I don't mind when you two get like that. I'm used to it by now." David said.

His parents just laughed, but David knew better. He'd never seen two people kiss more than his parents, even on TV or in the movies. And when he mentioned it to Uncle Frasier, he got the answer he expected, along with another retelling of his parents "love story". But he never mentioned it to his mom because she was convinced that David would find a woman he loved just as much someday. He didn't believe it, not for a moment. He didn't care about girls that way, but his dad told him that in time he would. He winced at the thought because he didn't want to rush it at all. He liked things just fine the way they were.

But all that kissing and hugging just meant that his parents loved each other and that made him happy. So many of his friends didn't have two married parents. They were always being shuffled off between one parent to another and it made him understand what his cousin Freddy went though. He wished he could talk to him now, even though he was a lot older, he was a kid once. But he lived far away in Boston and he hoped that his Aunt Lilith would let Freddy come for a visit someday, even if Uncle Frasier lived in San Francisco. Freddy still had family in Seattle. He didn't know what he'd do if his parents ever split up. That would be-

"David?"

He looked up in surprise when he realized that his mom was gone, and suddenly he was worried. "Dad, Mom's not mad at me, is she?"

"Of course not! Why would you say that?"

"Well… where is she?"

"She thought you and I could use some time alone. But she's definitely not mad at you. In fact, she's very proud of you, as am I. Alice told us that you were very good for her while she was here."

"Dad-."

"Now, I know that you don't like having to have a babysitter because you're certainly not a baby anymore. I guess we're just over-protective parents."

David laughed. His parents were anything but over-protective. "It's all right. Alice wasn't so bad. We had fun just talking and stuff."

"What did you talk about?"

"Oh, just stuff. Aunt Roz and how different she is from Alice. It was the first time we really talked, you know? It was more like having a friend over than a babysitter."

"Well, you are practically related." His dad said, nudging David's shoulder. "What else did you talk about?"

David sighed and looked away, suddenly wishing that he hadn't said anything.

"That's all right. You don't have to tell me. Your Uncle Frasier and I were always keeping secrets from your grandpa."

"It's not a secret." David said quickly. "We were talking about you."

He expected his dad to be mad but instead he smiled. "Really? What did I do to deserve such an honor?"

"Nothing… I just…"

"David, what is it?"

But David shook his head. To say anything more would upset his dad and it wasn't fair. His dad hadn't done anything wrong. It was just the stupid thoughts that went through David's mind and he almost resented Alice for putting them there.

"David..."

He turned away, fighting tears. He couldn't let his dad see him now. He never cried so why was he crying now? His dad would think he was a complete-

Suddenly he felt his father's arms around him and he relished the feeling, especially when his dad began to stroke his blonde hair. "David, you can tell me anything. Anything at all and if I've done something to upset you, I want us to talk about it, okay? But you don't have to talk about it now. It's late and I'm sorry we woke you. But you know I would never intentionally hurt you for anything in the world, right?"

David sniffled and drew back, looking into his dad's eyes. "Dad, why don't you ever like to talk about sports?"

This surprised his dad, as David expected. "What?"

"Last weekend when Grandpa took me to the Mariners game. I was so excited when he brought me home and I couldn't wait to tell you what happened, but you didn't care."

His dad's mouth fell open and he looked almost hurt. Darn it, this was exactly what David was afraid of.

"David…"

"I'm sorry Dad. I knew I shouldn't have said anything. Just forget it, okay?"

"Is that how you really feel? You think I don't care about you?"

"Not about me. I know you do. But I loved going to that game with Grandpa but it would be dumb to talk to him about it. He'd already been there with me. I wanted to talk to you about it. That's what kids do, talk to their dads about sports and stuff. I can't do that with you."

His dad sighed deeply. "I had no idea you felt this way and I'm so sorry. It's not that I don't care. I care about everything you do, whether it's going to a football game to see the Mariners play or getting an A on a psychology test. I love you and nothing will change that."

"I love you too, Dad."

They hugged each other tightly and for longer than David could ever remember. "I'm sorry I hurt your feelings Dad." David said, his voice muffled against his dad's shirt.

"I'm glad you told me how you felt. And I'll tell you what. I'm pretty sure there's a Mariner's game on tomorrow afternoon. Why don't we watch it together? We can make popcorn and sit on the couch in front of the television and you can teach me all about baseball. Your grandpa tried to teach your Uncle Frasier and I but he finally just gave up. But who's to say that my son can't teach me? I bet that would make your grandpa really proud. He was always disappointed in Frasier and I because we weren't into sports. Well, goodnight, David. I love you."

David smiled when his dad kissed the top of his head and walked out of the room but when he reached the door he remembered something very important.

"Dad?"

"Yes David?"

"Grandpa isn't disappointed in you. He's proud of you."

His dad's eyebrows rose. "Really?"

"He told me, while we were at the game. He said that even though you and Uncle Frasier aren't sports fans, you both have great jobs and are successful at what you do and that you're the best sons he could ever have."

His dad swallowed hard. "H-he said that?"

"Yep!"

"Well… the next time I see him, I'll have to thank him. And I'll make sure he knows that I feel the exact same way. I have the best son a man could ask for. Goodnight,  
David."

It wasn't hard to hear the catch in his dad's voice, telling David that he was about to become emotional. He hadn't meant to make his dad cry, but maybe it was a good thing. People cried when they were happy and sad and David was sure that he'd made his dad happy.

As he snuggled under the covers and turned out the light, he held the stuffed Mariner Moose in his arms. He was too old to be playing with dolls, but he wasn't too old for this one. It reminded him of the fun times he had with his grandpa and what a great family he had.

He could hardly wait for the baseball game tomorrow. He would teach his dad everything his grandpa had taught him about the game. Who knew that kids could teach their parents?

THE END


End file.
